Apparatus and method for liner assemblies



Aug. 18, 1942. Q CQBERLY 2,293,426

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LINER ASSEMBLIES Filed OCC. 8, 1937 2Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 18., 1942. c. J. CQBERLY 2,293,426

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LINER ASSEMBLIES Filed 061'.. 8. 1937 2Sheets-Sheet 2 5y CLARE/VCE J COBERLV HARR/ K/ECH Fos nm 3 ARR/s lb (Q)-GP;

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Patented Aug. 18, 1942 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOB LINER mLIES ASS ClarenceJ. Coberly, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Boko Corporation, Reno,Nev., a corporation of Nevada Application October 8, 1937, Serial No.167,976

(Cl. 2li-84) 9 Claims.

The invention relates in general to the cylinder liner art, and moreparticularly an apparatus and method for shrinking a cylinder liner in ashell by the application of fluid pressures to the liner and shell. Theinvention is of particular utility in the cylinder and cylinder linerart and will be described in connection therewith, but it will beunderstood that it may also have application in other arts, and,accordingly, I do not wish to be limited to the speciiic embodimentdescribed herein.

It is frequently desirable to shrink ilt a cylinder liner into acylinder shell, as for example in the oil well pumping art, as is shownand described in my copendingapplication Serial No. 720,056, filed April1l, 1934, entitled Method oi' assembling elements of liquid operatedmotor. In such practical application, a tubular cylinder liner isinserted into a cylinder shell, the cylinder shell having an internaldiameter normally less than the external diameter of the cylinder liner.Heretoiore, my usual manner of performing this operation, as indicatedin my above-mentioned copending application, has been to heat thecylinder shell and cool the cylinder liner, so as to cause the shell toexpand and the liner to contract until the relative expansion andcontraction will permit .the liner to be inserted into the shell,following which the temperatures of the elements are substantiallyequalized to form a shrink fit therebetween. This system of forming ashrink fit between a cylinder shell and cylinder liner has a number ofpractical disadvantages. and I have discovered that iluid pressures maybe utilized to cause the relative expansion and contraction of the shelland liner, respectively, with a higher degree of commercial success andat a lower cost. Accordingly, it is a primary object of this inventionto provide a method and apparatus for forming a shrink fit between acylinder shell and cylinder liner by the application of fluid pressuresthereto.

Another object of my invention is to provide a method and apparatuswhereby a shrink fit between a cylinder liner and a cylinder shell maybe broken to remove the liner from the shell.

It is another object o! the invention to provide a method and apparatuswhereby such a cylinder liner may be inserted into such a cylinder shellwhile the interior of the shell and the exterior of the liner aresubjected to relatively high fluid Further objects and advantages of theinvention reside in the particular structure and methods set forthhereinafter, and will be made evident by the following speciiication andclaims.

Referring to the drawings, which are for the purpose of illustrationonly:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view. showing the assembly of mydevice.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on the line 5-5 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of the pressure releasevalve mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, I show, in general, supporting means l0,cylinder shell retaining means 2li, cylinder liner -retaining means 53,actuating means for moving a cylinder liner into or out of a cylindershell, and iluid pressure means 30 for providing fluid under pressure tothe device.

The supporting means I0 is utilized to support the structure utilizingmy invention, and is preferably comprised of uprights Il and horizontalbraces i2, both of which may be made oi standard angle iron. Thecylinder shell retaining means 2li is comprisedof a fixed head 2isuitably secured to the uprights Il as by bolts 22, and a movable head23 adapted to be moved relative to the xed head 2| by a screw 24threaded through a screw head 25 supported on the uprights Il bysuitable bolts 26. The outer end of the screw 24 has rigidly boltedthereto a hand wheel 21 which may be rotated to advance or retract thescrew relative to the screw head 25. The inner end of the screw 24 isprovided with an annular groove 23 into which projects a lip 29 of asplit plate 33 fixed to the movable head 23 by suitable bolts 3|. Thelip 29 nts loosely into the annular channel 23 so as to permit the screw24 to be rotated relative to the movable head 23. Guide rods 32 areconnected between the i'lxed head 2| and the screw head 25 and passthrough guide openings 33 in the movable head 23, so as to permit themovable head to be axially moved relative to the fixed head withoutrotating relative thereto. It will thus be understood that rotation ofthe hand wheel 21 will cause the screw 24 to advance or retract themovable head 23 relative tothe iixed head 2|.

The movable head 23 is provided with a threaded bore 34, and a needlevalve member 35 is threaded into a suitable valve opening formed in themovable head so as to open or close a pressure relief passage 36communicating between the exterior of the movable head and the interiorof the threaded bore. Threaded into the threaded bore 34 is an annularpacking retainer member 31 which is adapted to be screwed in to bearagainst a suitable U-shaped annular packing element 38, formed ofleather or other suitable material, which is doubled over an annularpacking ring 39 to form a sealing means 4l) between the movable head 23and a cylinder shell 4| adapted to be inserted into the bore 42 of theannular packing retainer member 31. The diameter of the bore 42 is onlyslightly greater than the external diameter of the cylinder shell 4|, soas to provide a close fit therebetween. It will be recognized thatdifferent sized packing retainer members 31 may readily be substitutedfor the one shown in order to accommodate different sized cylindershells therein.

The xed head 2| is likewise provided with a threaded bore 43 axiallyaligned with the threaded bore 34 of the movable head 23, and containstherein sealing means 44', comprised of a packing retainer 45, a packingelement 46; and a packing ring 41, similar to the elements comprisingthe sealing means 40 of the movable head 23, and which provides sealingmeans between the fixed head 2| and the cylinder shell 4|. The iixedhead 2| is also provided with a central bore 48 concentric with thethreaded bore 43.

The cylinderliner retaining means 50 is comprised of a tubular vestibulemember having a bore 52 therein of substantially the same diameter asthe central bore 48 of the fixed head 2|, which is connected to thefixed head in axial alignment therewith by suitable means such aswelding 53, the bore 52 being adapted to receive and retain a cylinderliner 54. Although any desired type of cylinder liner 54 may beutilized, I prefer to use a cylinder liner having flutes 55 in the outersurface thereof and having a bore 56, as shown in Fig. 3. The cylinderliner 54 is preferably closed by end members 51 tting over the endsthereof and compressing packing 58 therebetween, the end members beingheld together by a rod 59 passing through the bore 56 and securelybolted to the end members, one of the end members having a U-shaped slot58a therein. The packing 58 provides a Huid-tight seal between the liner54 and the end members 51 to seal 0E the interior of the cylinder liner54.

The actuating means 60 is comprised cfa vestibule head 6| axiallyaligned with the vestibule member 5| and rigidly connected thereto as byWelding, andl a rack tube member 62 similarly iixed to the vestibulehead. The vestibule .head 6| and the rack tube member 62 are providedwith longitudinal passages therethrough, 63 and 64 respectively, whichare axially aligned with the bore 52 of the vestibule member 5|. Thevestibule head 6| is also provided with a transverse opening 65 in theouter ends of which are received threaded sleeve nuts 66 and 61counterbored, respectively, to receive packing nuts 68 and 69. Extendingthrough the sleeve nuts 66 and 61 and the packing nuts 68 and 69 is atransverse rod having Afixed to its outer end a hand wheel 1|, andhaving iixed on its central portion a pinion 12, positioned between thesleeve nuts 66 and 61 and registering with the lower end of thelongitudinal passage 63 so as to engage the lower side of a rack 13normally retained in the passages 63 and 64. The rack 75 13 is providedat its outer end with a T-head 19 adapted to fit into the U-shaped slot58a of the liner head 51, so as to provide positive means for insertingthe liner 54 into the shell 4| or withdrawing it therefrom. The packingnuts 68 and 69 compress packing 15 and 16, respectively, to form afluid-tight joint between the vestibule head 6| and the transverserod10, the rod being rotatable by means of the hand wheel 1| to advance orretract the rack 13. The outer end of the rack tube member 62 is closedby a cap 11 welded or otherwise xed thereto. Also provided in thevestibule head 6| is a pressure fiuidpassage 18 communicating betweenthe interior of the bore 63 and the bore 52 and the exterior of thevestibule head.

The fluid pressure means 80 may be any suitable source of high pressurefluid, such as a high pressure oil pump, adapted to supply high pressureiiuid through an intake tubing 8| and the passage 18 to the interior ofthe vestibule member 5|, the tubing being connected to the vestibulehead 6| by a connection plate 82 suitably fixed thereto. Although thefluid pressure means 80 may be of any suitable type, and forms nospecific part of the present invention, I prefer to use-a high pressurepump such as shown in the patent of Clarence J. Coberly et al., No.2,081,224, issued May 25, 1937. It will be recognized, however, thatother types of fluid pressure pumps may be utilized without departingfrom the present invention.

When it is desired, to shrink fit a liner in a cylinder shell, theoperation of my device is Vas follows. It will be understood thatneither the liner 54 northe cylinder shell 4| will be in the device, andthat the uid pressure means 80 will be turned off. The cylinder liner 54is first assembled with the end members 51 in position thereon to closethe bore 56 thereof. The hand wheel 1| is thenrotated incounter-clockwise direction, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to move therack 13 to the left as far as possible to the position in which the endthereof is extended out of the nxed head 2|. The cylinder nner s4, withits ends sealed byothe end members 51, may then be hooked on to the rack13 by inserting the T-head 19 into the slot 58a, and rotation of thehand wheel 1| in a clockwise direction will then retract the rack andthe liner connected thereto until the liner is wholly retracted withinthe vestibule 5| as shown in Fig. 1. During the preceding step, themovable head 23 will have been moved outwardly away from the fixed head2| by rotating the hand wheel 21 and the screw 24, to provide suiiicientspace to permit the cylinder liner 54 to be aligned with the bore 48.The cylinder shell 4| is then inserted into the open end of the packingretainer to the posi tion shown in Fig. 1, and the hand wheel 21 is thenrotated so as to advance the movable head 23 until the annular packingretainer member 31 passes over the outer end of the cylinder shell tothe DOsition shown in Fig. 1, and a fluid-tight seal is formed betweenthe cylinder shell 4| and the heads 2| and 23. In the form of theinvention shown, sealing between the cylinder shell 4| and the heads 2|and 23 is achieved by the sealing means 40 and 44, but it will berecognized that otherforms of sealing means can be substituted thereforwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and that theformation of fluid-tight joints between the shell and the heads isgenerally accomplished by fitting the parts as shown by movement of themovable head relative to the ilxed head.

The fluid pressure means 80 is then actuated so as to pump fiuid underhigh pressure, such as oil, through the intake tubing 8|, the passage18, and into the interior of the vestibule member the fluid passingtherethrough, through the central bore 48, and into the interior of thecylinder shell 4|. When all air has been expelled from the interior ofthe cylinder shell 4|, as evidenced by pressure fluid dischargingthrough the relief passage 36, the needle valve 35 is closed, it beingimportant that all air or gas has been expelled prior to closing of theneedle valve for complete safety in operation. As is well understood inthe art, the internal diameter of the cylinder shell 4| is normallyslightly less than the external diameter of the cylinder liner 54, and,accordingly, the pressure of the fluid supplied by the fluid pressuremeans 80 is suiciently high to slightly expand the cylinder shell 4| andto contract the cylinder liner 54. When this condition has beenattained, the hand wheel 1| is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction,as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, to move the rack 13 outwardly in engagementwith the end member 51 of the cylinder liner 54 and to move the cylinderliner 54 from the vestibule member 5| through the central bore 48 andinto the cylinder shell 4|. It will be found that the cylinder linerwill slip readily into position in the cylinder shell 4|, as shown indotted lines 82 in Fig. 2. Operation of the fluid pressure means 80 isthen discontinued, and the needle valve member 35 is actuated so as toopen the pressure relief passage 36, and pressure fluid flows outwardlytherethrough and exhausts from the interior of the cylinder shell 4| andthe communicating parts. With the reduction in pressure due to theexhaust of pressure fluid through the relief passage 36, the cylinderliner 54 expands and the cylinder shell 4| contracts to their normalsize, to form a shrink fit therebetween. The hand wheel 21 is thenrotated so as to move the screw 24 and the movable head 23 outwardlyrelative to the fixed head 2| so as to disengage the cylinder shell 4|and the cylinder liner 54 retained therein from the mechanism.

Lubrication between the cylinder shell 4| and the cylinder liner 54 ispreferably accomplished by using as a pressure fluid a high viscosityoil, which lubricates the surfaces so that axial dimensional changes ofthe liner and shell can take place before metal-to-metal contact occurstherebetween, which produces an equilibrium of the texpansive andcontractive forces without fricion.

It is also frequently desirable to break a shrink fit between a cylinderliner and a cylinder shell, so that either the liner or the shell, orboth, can be salvaged for repair or reassembly, and it will beunderstood readily that the structure shown and described herein can beutilized for such purpose. In such case, the cylinder shell having theliner therein in shrink t relation is connected to the rack 13 byinserting the T-head 19 into the U-shaped slot 58a, and the cylindershell is then properly positioned, as described, between the fixed head2| and the movable head 23 so as to form fluid-tight jointstherebetween. Upon admission of the pressure fluid by means of actuationof the fluid pressure means 80, as described above, the cylinder shell4| expands and the cylinder liner 54 contracts until the liner may bewithdrawn from the shell by operating the actuating means 68 so as tomove the rack 13 to the position shown in Fig. l, in which the liner iswholly removed from the shell and is in retracted position within thevestibule 5|. After the pressure relief passage 38 has been opened torelieve the pressure, andthe cylinder shell 4| removed, the actuatingmeans 60 may then be operated so as to move the rack 13, andconsequently the liner 54, to the left, to permit the liner to bedisengaged from the rack.

In practice, I have-found that where a cylinder shell having an externaldiameter ot 33/4 inches is used, a fluid pressure of 11,000 pounds persquare inch will provide a clearance of 0.004 inch between the shell andthe cylinder liner, which is sufficient to permit entry or withdrawal ofthe liner into or out of the shell. For othersized cylinder shells andliners the pressures and clearances vary somewhat, but my invention isadaptable to a wide variety of operating conditions, and it will beunderstood that these specific values are given for the purpose ofillustration only.

Although I have shown and described my invention herein in simple andpractical form, it is to be recognized that certain parts or elementsthereof are representative of other parts, elements, or mechanisms whichmay be used in substantially the same manner to accomplish substantiallythe same results. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventionis not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to beaccorded the full scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of assembling a metallic cylinder liner in a metalliccylinder shell, the cylinder liner normally having an external diametergreater than the internal diameter of the cylinder shell, including thesteps of: creating a fluid pressure differential between the inside andoutside of said cylinder liner so as to contract it to an externaldiameter less than the internal diameter of said cylinder shell; movingsaid cylinder liner into said cylinder shell while said cylinder lineris so contracted; and removing said fluid pressure differential on saidliner so as to permit said cylinder liner to expand radially so as toengage said cylinder shell to place said cylinder liner undercompression.

2. A method of assembling a metallic cylinder liner in a metalliccylinder shell, the cylinder liner normally having an external diametergreater than the internal diameter of the cylinder shell, including thesteps of: creating a fluid pressure differential between the inside andoutside of said cylinder shell and between the inside and outside ofsaid cylinder liner so as to cause said cylinder shell and said cylinderliner to expand and contract, respectively, until the external diameterof said cylinder liner is relatively less than the internal diameter ofsaid cylinder shell; moving said cylinder liner into said cylinder shellwhile said cylinder shell is so expanded relative to said cylinderliner; and removing said uid pressure diierentials from said shell andsaid liner so as to permit said cylinder shell to contract and saidcylinder liner to expand into engagement so as to place said cylinderliner under compression.

3. In a device for assembling a cylinder liner in a cylinder shell, thecombination of: shell retaining means for holding said cylinder shell;liner retaining means for holding said cylinder liner; means forintroducing fluid under pressure into said liner retaining means; meansfor main. taining a uid pressure differential between the inside andoutside oi said cylinder liner s o as to contract said cylinder liner;means for moving said cylinder liner into said cylinder shell while saidcylinder liner is so contracted; and means for releasing said uidpressure so as to permit said cylinder liner to expand into engagementwith said cylinder shell.

4. In a device for assembling a cylinder liner in a cylinder shell, thecombination of: a iixed head adapted to receive one end of a cylindershell; a movable head movably supported relative to said iixed head andadapted to receive the other end of said cylinder shell; means formoving said movable head relative to said ilxed head so as to formduid-tight seals between each end oi said cylinder shell and said heads;means adapted to receive a cylinder liner; means for introducing iluidunder pressure into said liner receiving means; means for maintaining aiiuid pressure differential between the'inside and outside of saidcylinder liner so as to contract said cylinder liner therein; and meansfor moving said cylinder liner from said liner receiving means into saidcylinder shell while said cylinder liner is so contracted.

5. In a device for assembling a cylinder liner in a cylinder shell, thecombination of: a xed head adapted to receive one end of a cylindershell; a movable head movably supported relative to said fixed head andadapted to receive the other end of said cylinder shell; means formoving said movable head relative to said fixed head so as to formfluid-tight seals between leach end of said cylinder shell and saidheads; means adapted to receive a. cylinder liner; a movable memberaxially aligned with said liner receiving means land adapted to engagesaid cylinder liner; means for introducingv uid under pressure into saidliner receiving means so as to contract said cylinder liner therein; andmechanical means for actuating said movable member so as to move saidcylinder liner from said liner receiving means into said cylinder shellwhile said cylinder liner is so contracted.

6. In a device for assembling a cylinder liner in a cylinder shell, thecombination of: a fixed head having a bore and adapted to receive oneend of a cylinder shell; a movable head movably supported relative tosaid xed head and adapted to receive the other end of said cylindershell; means for moving said movable head relative to said xed head soas to form uid-tight seals between each end of said cylinder shell andsaid heads; cylinder liner receiving means communicating with said boreof said xed head; walls forming a chamber communicating with theinterior of said liner receiving means; a member movably supported insaid chamber and adapted to engage said cylinder liner; means forintroducing iluid under pressure into s/aid cylinder shell so as toexpand said cylinder shell; and means for moving said memberl so as tomove said cylinder liner into said cylinder shell while said cylindershell is so expanded.

7. In a device for assembling a cylinder liner in a cylinder shell, thecombination of: shell retaining means for holding said cylinder shell;

sealing means between said shell retaining means and said cylinder shellso as to form a iluid-tight joint therebetween; liner retaining meansfor holding said cylinder liner; means for introducing fluid underpressure into said liner retaining means so as to contract said cylinderliner; means for moving said cylinder liner into said cylinder shellwhile said cylinder liner is so contracted; and means for releasing saidiluid pressure so as to permit said cylinder liner to expand intoengagement with said cylinder shell.

8. In a device for assembling a cylinder liner in a cylinder shell, thecombinationof: a fixed head having a bore and adapted to receive one endoi a cylinder shell; a movable head movably supported relative to saidiixed head and adapted to receive the other end of said cylinder shell;means for moving said movable head relative to said xed head so as toform iluid-tight seals between each end of said cylinder shell and saidheads; sealing means between said cylinder shell `and said heads; meansfor introducing iluid under pressure into the interior of said cylindershell so as to expand it; cylinder liner receiving means communicatingwith said bore of said ilxed head; a tubular container connected to saidliner receiving means and axially aligned therewith, said tubularcontainer being in communication with the interior of said linerreceving means; a movable rack in said tubular container adapted toengage said cylinder liner; a pinion operatively connected to said rack;and means for actuating said pinion so as to move said rack to move saidcylinder liner into said cylinder shell while said cylinder shell is soexpanded.

9. A method of assembling a metallic cylinder liner in a metalliccylinder shell, the cylinder liner normally having an external diametergreater than the internal diameter oi the c'ylinder shell, including thesteps of: sealing the ends of said cylinder liner; creating a iluidpressure diierential between the inside and outside of said cylinderliner so as to contract it to an external diameter less than theinternal diameter of said cylinder shell; moving said cylinder linerinto said cylinder shell while said cylinder liner is so contracted; andremoving said uid pressure differential on said liner so as to permitsaid cylinder liner to expand radially so as to engage said cylindershell to place said cylinder liner under compression.

CLARENCE J. COBERLY.

